(Image: LEDinside)

Taiwanese LED chip maker Epistar in 2017 went through a financial turnaround and reported a share dividend of NTD 0.8. In wake of lukewarm market demand, the company’s 2Q18 results showed declinces. Its plan to mass produce Mini LED products is scheduled in the second half of 2018.

Affected by the traditional slow season, Epistar ended the first quarter with a revenue of NTD 5.14 billion (USD 172.8 million), with a decrease of 10.23% YoY. Demands in markets of lighting applications remained tepid in Q2. Demand in the LED backlight market bounced back but the momentum appeared weak.

However, judging by the amount of orders it received, Epistar said the overall demand in Q2 seems to be stronger than that in Q1.

Epistar started collaboration talks with its clients last year to develop Mini LED products for applications including smartphone, laptop, and indoor digital signage. According to the company, the production of Mini LED products is set to run anytime its clients place orders.

Mini LED when adopted in display applications is able to improve color contrast and saturation and to reduce production costs and thickness of devices.

Epistar expects the demand for Mini LED display technology to surge in 2019 when the market is likely to respond with high acceptance after one or two lanches of new Mini LED-based applications.

Mini LED-based applications is estimated be rolled out in Q3 or Q4 this year at the earliest, yet profits they bring to Epistar might be limited.